Adjustable shore



Nov. 1l, 1952 F. w. JEssoP vADJUSTABLE SHORE Filed Jan. 19, 1950 3 MM@ f 0A, 2 /m ,1, 0 a a? INVENToR. Han/ q/FffO/D Patented Nov. 11, 1952 DJUSTBLE "Frank W. lesson, .Clevelandleighta :Ohio

" VTAiljlicz'ttlon January-'119, 1950,` SeraINo. 11395505 This fnventionrielatesito adiustableashoresiand to .shores fpa'rticulalfly adapted tueuse in .the-eelleries-.of'mines f Y Numerous c'oIlvlstruotlon's 'fof ."shor'e :are known comprising v'an elongated base part for' 'resting fat one end upon theifground (or otherzsupport) and an yelongated :load Vf-engaging :part :aligned 1longitudinally therewith-land 1:adjusta'bleV therealong longitudinally to .adiustably #eX-tend or alternatively ;oontraot :the over-,all length .of ithe 'shore.

some cases, the shore merely "adjusted :to the length at which itfw 4support-:a Aload subsequentl-.y `:put on itg; as vr.for iexample t'to suppo'it a concrete mold =:for floors and the .like'of building struc-,mres `into `whichconcrete is to be pou-red. In 'other cases, the @shore ,isv forcibly: extended-.bietween the support and the load for example ":to .shoreA up' ,a loaded. ;floor to.correctfor'jfprevent sagging. `Such shores therefore are `provided with a mechanism' operable tlv-contract orlextend the over-al1 length of the shoreaandto extend it with great for-ee when, in use, Aforce is'sneeded Shores, so-oalled,` are used in mines to-:support thefrooif of a gallery, or :to hold the-side walls apart, to prevent,"falling or oollapsing,v but in generalV comprise "merely a' ,strut of woodand :fa

wedge or Wedges driven intoplace iunderor over an end ofthe strut. l y

This wooden-strutjtype of .mine shore is cheap and .carne into vuse for thatreasonpand 'does el?- feGteQnOmy When the wooidis readilyayailab'le near the mine, But-the woode'strut type of shore has continued to be used in minesiasrafcustom or habitwven when the strut must 'be tr long distances, and the `economy isv lost any casek any saving due to: initial-'cheapnesswis lost becauseo'ffthe short life of vsuch rwood shores due to moisture eiected decay. y This expense formino shores is entailedlargely becausegan extensible and contractable "shore as a manufactured articleandmade of more dur able" materiaLzfsuch vas iron or SteeLfand having @mechanism for forcibly extending it,f`has not heretofore been, producedaoheaply enoughtto replace the woodhstrut type. y It is an object of the present inventionto provide a mechanism-operated shore as refy-eriied to, which can bemanufa'ctured cheaply. from steel or` ironat a total cost favorably comparable with that of the wood-strut type.` whereby itjmay be economically used in mines vtovrepl'aoe` the' "woodstru-t type, withv advantages thereover.

. Another object is to `provide suchv a 'shore'hwhch can' be amado; vlargely from selected sizes' of'oo'mmercial steel or wrought iron pipe. f

ein

Cil

vshoreconrp'rising,Ta 'basenart part of .tlilrnrlarv '1i-offrira; and @externally Lthiieadeii with right'an'd left har-rd thrfeads"respeottfly: and 'afcoupling internally threaded withfr g'ht hand vand left hand thieadsfmeshe'd with "the threads of tubular parts; whereby upon turning the coupling, vthe .over-:all length of the "tublar parts 'may lbefdecreased "or forciblyinorased 'great extending force, and'bysmallzincnementm and rprovidedwith a cheapsimplemeanswliereby upon vturnizig :the 'coupling fon: one -fp'art, fthe ther lpart is 'preventediro'm` being rotated thereby, land whereby movement of fth'etbular @arts-initiieren tending direction is limited toprevent,unscrew ing of 'the tubular parts" fromfth'efco'xiplin'gf.15,;

Another 'object ris #to provide lan 'f-adliustable shore generally 'f two vmain' parts coulld togeth'er,so designedthatfa' few dleien't" lengths of vthe 'two mainlparts, when selectii/"elyfassemf bled in pairs in the shoefWill tprovide shores-fof a 'great variety of over-all lengths; so that the shore as thusvselectivel'y assembledfwi'll fhayea `length approximatin'gxthe length "that will'be used,and so `that 'as ia consequence "the shore' will contain no Imore material 'than is needed and 'actually usedlin each instance,k withfnsntf ing reduction of vcost and increase of economy. K.

"the'r objects will be appllr'entlto 'those 'skillefc'l in the aft to VWhich the `il'iilfvtoh.appel'I'ifan`S Theinvntins disclosed in th'OlIOWiIlg description taken iin bonnection with 'the accompanying drawing, iii-Which: n

Fig. l1 isan elevational-view.I fpartlyinlo'nfg'itu -Y dinal section lfof-a shore embodying/the invention and in contracted condition.; and the view may `be referred to the plane .I-'l of Fig. 2;

Fig.y 2 is a longitudinal sectional View vfrom the plane v2--2 of Fig.v ll

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the Vshore riin Iul-lyextendedcondition;

Fig. 4 isa `cross-sectional View from the .plane` 4 4 of 2., with parts beyond the sectional plane omitted.; and illustratinga tool for operating an extending and contracting mechanism of the shore;

Figs. 5 'and 6 are fragmentary views of lDartsn say 4three'inches diameter, threaded on 'itsn'itd spinning the wall of the pipe, the foot may be provided, as shown at 5A in Fig. 5 as a modication, by circumscrbing the end of the lower pipe, here IA, with an annularly bent piece of angle iron 1, and welding it to the endof the pipev IA; and a head of similar construction may be provided for the upper pipeu3, as will be understood.

At 8 is a coupling, made from the stock from which,standardcouplings o r connecting sleeves for'. threaded steel pipe are commonly made; -and it is Vinternally threaded from opposite ends to its middle with a'right hand :thread 9 in its lower half and a left hand thread I0 in its upper half and meshed respectively with the threads 2 and4. 'c

Bythis' much' of the structure, uponiurning thecoupling '8" in on'edirection, it will -rise on the lower part "I'andthe upper parti-l will also be' propelled upwardly'in the coupling; whereby -the over-,all'length of the shore may be adjustalbly extended; and similarly it may 'fbe'adjustably contracted'byy turningr the coupling in the other direction. I f

The ,coupling is preferably provided with one or more perforations II, whereby al tool I2 vvas in Figg- 4m-ay be used toturn the coupling. -The rotational tendencies are effective and the upper pipe part 3 is prevented from rotating.

This not only insures that the upper pipe part 3 will be propelled, upwardly or downwardly, as the couplingr 8 is rotated, but has another advantage as follows.

The upper and lower pipe parts I and 3 will by intention, project equal distance into the couplingB .when the shore is fully contracted, as shown for example iniFigs. 1 Tand 2 and thereafter they 'will always continue to project equal .distances into the coupling, even when fully extended, as shown in Fig. 3; whereby the maximum extension for a given longitudinal extent ahead of that on the other.

tool vI2 is ofthe Spanner wrench type and comprises a curved ypart I2 conforming generally to the outside of the coupling, a'lug I4 on one end Itoventer a perforation II, and a handle I5 on the other end. Y. l

. -In the absence of special provisions, when the coupling 8 is rotatedas described, and with the lower. part I engaged at its foot 5, with say the lground,.th e upper part .3 would tend to rotate with the .coupling and not be threadedly 'extended or contracted. To prevent this, an inner control element I6 is provided, disposed longitudinally within .both pipe parts I and` 3.; and italso is made from a' length of standard pipe, which' suitably may be two and onehalf inch pipe, so as to iit loosely withsmall clearance in the three inch Vpipe parts I and 3; and thereby be maintained' substantially coaxiallyv therein 'against undesired'lateral shifting.

Adjacent the opposite lower and upper `ends 'of the control element I6 long pins I'I and I8 are projected diametrically through perforations in it; andthe ends of the lower pin I'I continue through diametrically opposite longitudinal closed end slots I 9-I9 in the lower pipe part-Land the ends of the upper pin I8 continue through dia# metrically opposite longitudinal closed end slots '2D-.20 in' the upper pipe part 3; the pins having free sliding movement in the slots.

-With this.v provision,v -ifthe upper pipe part 3 should tend to rotate with the coupling 8, it would tend to rotate the pin I8 with it; this would tend The said control element IB and pins II-I in the slots I9 and 28 also perform another useful function as follows#A The slots I9 and 2i) are made-offsuhi.length-.that when' the shore, by turning thecoupling' 8,!h'as3be`e'n extended to its maximum safe over-all length, for example as in Fig.'3, that is w'ith a number of threads on the pipeparts engaged with threads-'on the coupling sufticient' to vsafely carry the `load on the shore. further extension will be prevented by engagement of the pins I'I` and I8 with the upper and lower ends of the slots'IS and 20 respectively as shown `in Fig. 2, puttingthe control'element l5 under longitudinal tension' and positively stopping further extension of the shore. 7

The slots I9 and 20 are also made long enough so thatiengagementlofvthe 4pins I'I and I8 with the other ends of the slots will not interfere with complete contraction'of the shore as in Figs'. 1 and-2. n

.Suitable clearance is provided between the ends of the coupling 8 and the-pins I'I and I8, sothat at all intermediate extensions of the shore less than maximum, the control element I6 may be considered as iioating, and as suspended by the upper pin I8 engaging the upper end of the coupling 8. At the extremely contracted condition of the shore. of Figs. 1 and 2, the ends of the slots 2i) and Il are stoppedon the pins I8 and I1 and the adjacent inner ends of the parts I and 2 are thereby spaced apart as shown at 23, Fig. 1

y which prevents the threads 2 and 4 on the parts I and 2 from running onto the merging right hand and left hand threads 9 and H3 'at the middle of the coupling 8 where Iotherwise they might become mutilated; ,-The`pins I'I and I8 'overlap the ends'of the coupling, 'and may 4have a"'drive iit transversely in'perforationsf-in thel control element I6, but Ito avoid the necessity of -`care to effect that, and to make assembly ofthe parts convenient inthe eld; they may t loosely and are prevented from being unduly displaced lengthwise by cotter pins 2 I+2I at theirl ends. serving as stops.

If preferred and as a modication, the .cotter pin stops may be provided at spaced points on the pins and inside the'control element I 6 as shown at 22 in Fig. 6, where upon shifting endwise the Cotter pins engage the inner wall of the control element I6.

vIt will beobserved vthat the lower and upper pipe partsv I and 3 can be made of any' desired length .by cutting off pieces of pipe stock and threading them by the ordinary well known pipe threading machine; and that both pipe parts can -be of the `saine length or'if diierent lengths, andthat-the over-all length of the shore can thus b-evaried. :'it

'aci-"7,1626

and each shore will be of a length proportioned to the installation in which it is to be used and therefore have the minimum of material in it with a corresponding saving of construction cost.

As illustrative of this, upper and lower parts ofthe following eight lengths, one-half foot, one and `one-half feet, two feetftwo and one-half feet, three lfeet, four feet, five feet, and six feet can be. variously combined to provide a series of shoresdiffering from each other by six inches when contracted and having over-all lengths from two feet .to nine feet, each extensible six inches.

For example, an upper part one and one-half feet long and a lower part two feet long make a shore three and one-half feet long, extensible to four feet.

From the foregoing, it will be :seen that the shore consists essentially of one up-per part, one lowerlpart, one coupling, one control tube and two pins, or six parts that can .be cheaply made of steel. The parts can beV rust-proofed any suitable or well-known process.

And because the parts I and 2 consist of merely lengths cut from long stock, and are not built up out of structural parts, a number of lengths of parts I and 2 as aforesaid may be made and stocked at no added cost, but in fact with a saving because of less material in the shorter ones;

and this saving of cost is not possible with prior shores in which the parts are fabricated or built up out of several parts fastened together.

It will be seen therefore to be the intent and an advantage of the invention that shores of many lengths, a length for each job, with a minimum of extension and contraction sufficient for the job, may be made with saving in production cost and reduction of consumer price.

I claim:

1. An adjustable shore comprising upper and lower tubular elements, having axially aligned confronting end portions externally threaded with left hand and right hand threads respectively; a coupling element having left hand and right hand threads meshed with the threads of both 'tubular elements to propel the tubular elements apart when the coupling element is turned in onedirection and draw them together when turned in the other direction; a control element within the tubular elements having lateral projections thereon at spaced portions thereof extending into vertically elongated slots in the tubular walls of the respective tubular elements; the slotsfdisposed longitudinally of the tubular elements, so that upon propelling the tubular ele-` ments apart to a predetermined extent, the projections will bottom in the slots and stop further propulsion apart.

2. An adjustable shore comprising upper and lower tubular elements, having axially `aligned confronting end portions externally threaded with left hand and right hand threads respectively; a coupling element having left hand and rightfhand threads meshed with the threads of both tubular elements to propel the tubular elements apart when the coupling element is turned in one direction and draw them together when turned in the other direction; a iioating control element within the tubular elements having lateral projections thereon at spaced portions there- 6. ofi-extending into vertically elongated slots i'n the tubularV walls of the respective tubular -elements; the slots ldisposed longitudinallyl ofthe' lower tubular elements having confronting axialtubular elements, so that upon propelling the tubular elements apart 'to a predetermined 4.extent, the projections will bottom in the slots and stop further propulsion apart; and rotationof one tubular element relative to the other being prevented by the interconnection therebetween provided by the floating control element andthe projections thereof in thev slots.v

3. An adjustable shore comprising upper-and lower tubular elements, having "axially aligned confronting endA portions externally threaded with .left hand and right 'hand threads .respectively; a coupling element having left handv and right handthreads meshed with the threads of bothtubular elements to propel the tubular elements. apart when the coupling element is turned in one direction and draw them together when turned in the other direction;v a floating control --element within the tubular elements having lat# eral projections thereon at spaced portions there. of extending into vertically elongated slots ;in` the tubular walls of the Vrespective tubular elements; and. rotation of one tubular element'relativeto the other being prevented by the interconnection therebetween provided by the floating control element and the projections thereof in theslots.

4. An adjustable shore comprising upper and ly aligned end portions; an external tubular coupling element threaded upon the end portions with right hand and left hand threads respectively, to expand and contract the length of the shore upon rotation of the coupling element in .alternate directions; a floating control element inside of the tubular elements; abutment means on the floating element and the two tubular elements mutually engageable upon expanding the shore to a predetermined length to stop further extension and prevent running the coupling element olf of the threads. l

5. An adjustable shore comprising axially aligned upper and lower threaded shore elements and a coupling element threaded upon both shore elements and rotatable thereon to contract and extend the over-all length of the shore elements when rotated; each shore element provided with an abutment; a longitudinally extending control element having portions engageable with the abutments at a predetermined amount of extension of the shore elements to stop further extension thereof.

6. An adjustable shore comprising axially aligned upper and lower threaded shore elements and a coupling element threaded upon both shore elements and rotatable thereon to contract and extend the over-all length of the shore elements vwhen rotated; each shore element provided with an abutment; a longitudinally extending control element having portions engageable with the abutments at a predetermined amount of exten.

sion of the shore elements to stop further extension thereof; and the control element having portions non-rotatably, but axially movably connected to both shore elements to prevent relative rotation of the shore elements at all contracted and extended positions thereof.

7. A shore comprising upper and lower axially aligned tubular shore elements each made from a length of a standard size of steel pipe stock and externally threaded; a tubular coupling made from a length of a standard size of pipe-couplingstock and internally threaded, and screwed onto the threads of both tubular shore elements; the directions of the several threads predetermined to cause the shore elements to be propelled apart to extend the over-all length of the shore, upon rotation of the coupling element; a control element made from a length of standard size steel pipe stock slidable within both shore elements; a longitudinal closed-end slot in each shore element; a pair of pins on the control element extending into the respective slots and slidable therein; the engagement of the pins with the walls of the slots preventing rotation of one shore element relative to the other; and the engagement of the pins with the closed ends of the slots stopping extension of the shore elements after a predetermined amount of extension.

`8.'An adjustable shore comprising a pair of elongated shore elements; alternately rotatable means connecting the shore elements and constructed to move them relatively toward or away from each other longitudinally upon alternate rotation of the rotatable means, providing a maximum possible range of adjustments for the overall length of the shore; and control means comprising connection means longitudinally slidingly connected to the two shore elements preventing rotation of either shore element relative to the other during all length adjustments throughout said possible range. l

9. An adjustable shore comprising a pair of elongated shore elements; alternately rotatable means connecting the shore elements and constr ucted to move them relatively toward or away from each other longitudinally upon alternate rotation of the rotatable means, providing a maxlmum possible range of adjustments for the overall length of the shore; and control means comprising connection means longitudinally slidingly connected to the two shore elements preventing rotation of eithershore element relative to the other during all length adjustments throughout said possible range; said connection means constructed to stop said relative movementV of the shore elements away from each other longitudinally at the maximum over-all length adjustment of the shore.

FRANK W. JESSOP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,091,817 Dudgeon Mar. 31, 1914 1,321,113 Longren Nov. 11, 1919 2,009,090 Little July 23, 1935 

